Warehouse buys SchoolTex from Postie Plus for $9 mln

Jan. 15 (BusinessDesk) -
Warehouse Group, New Zealand’s largest listed retailer,
has agreed to buy SchoolTex from Postie Plus Group for $9
million, adding the nation’s biggest supplier of school
uniforms to its department stores.

“We see the Schooltex
uniform brand complementing The Warehouse’s existing
school apparel and back to school product range,” chief
executive Mark Powell said in a statement.

Postie Plus
shares have shed 57 percent in the past 12 months and the
clothing retailer posted a $13.2 million loss in its latest
year after writing down the value of stock by $4 million.
Sales and margins were also hurt after it outsourced its
distribution centre, which got overwhelmed by the transfer
of inventory arriving at the same time as new seasonal
stock.

The deal will allow Postie Plus to reduce debt to
$12.2 million from $21.1 million, giving the retailer more
flexibility to invest in its clothing, health and beauty
product ranges and complimentary products. It will also free
up floor space for new products, it said.

The reduction in
debt “is certainly more manageable and puts the business
on a more sustainable business going forward,” Postie Plus
CEO Richard Binns told BusinessDesk. He declined to give
details of his company’s plans to use the freed up space
in its stores.

Warehouse will pick up six Schooltex
support office and regional staff at the end of February.
Schooltex supplies uniforms and sportswear to more than
1,100 schools.

Postie Plus stock last traded at 10 cents.
Warehouse last traded at $3.66 and has gained 19 percent in
the past
year.

The Wellington-based BusinessDesk team led by former Bloomberg Asian top editor Jonathan Underhill and Qantas Award-winning journalist and commentator Pattrick Smellie provides a daily news feed for a serious business audience.

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